1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates in general to an apparatus and method for axially locating and locking in place components on a shaft. More specifically, the invention relates to a shaft-locating device that grips an outer diameter surface of a shaft.
2. Description of Prior Art
Electrical submersible pumps (“ESP”) are used to pump wellbore fluids from the depths of the earth to the surface. A typical ESP can include a motor, a seal section, and a pump. The motor rotates a shaft that passes through the seal section to the pump. The shaft carries rotational energy to the pump, which creates a pressure differential that draws in wellbore fluid and propels that fluid to the surface. Various components must be fixed to the shaft so that they do not move axially, relative to the shaft, while the shaft is rotating. For example, bearing assemblies can be positioned on the shaft to constrain the shaft while it is rotating.
The bearing assemblies constraining the shaft must be locked into a specified axial position. Currently, axially locking a bearing assembly requires the use of, for example, snap rings, spacer sleeves, compression nuts, or a combinations thereof. Regardless of the components chosen, either the shaft or the components must be machined, manufactured, and assembled. Snap rings require a radial groove to be machined into the shaft. The grove reduces the outer diameter of the shaft and therefore reduces the strength of the shaft. Compression nuts require the shaft to be threaded, which also can reduce the outer diameter of the shaft or make the manufacture of the shaft more expensive. If the groove or threads are not precisely located, spacer sleeves must be used to locate the bearing assembly in its preferred axial position. Spacer sleeves can also be used to position a component on a shaft by maintaining the component a specified distance from another component on the shaft. All of these techniques for fixing components to a shaft increase the complexity of manufacture and assembly, increase the cost to manufacture, and in some cases weaken the shaft. It is desirable to fix components to the shaft without machining grooves or threads into the shaft or using spacer sleeves along the shaft.